Pilchard
Pilchard is a big purple T-Rex who is Dodge T. Dog's best friend and likes singing and being happy, performed by Ronnie Le Drew. He is eternally 2 million years old in Dinosaur age. He is a parody of Barney, a costumed character who became famous on PBS. He has a TV series called "Pilchard and Friends" and a series of commercially sold VHS tapes called "Pilchard and the Backdoor Pals". He celebrates his birthday on 19 August. His favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and cold watermelon. He has a little sister named Baby Boogie, a little brother named T.J. and a friend named Riff-Raff. His favourite songs are "Pilchard Loves You" (This Old Man) and his theme tune (Yankee Doodle). Pilchard first appeared on The CBeebies House Show in This is Britain. When he first appeared, many of the grown-ups assumed that he was Dodge's imaginary friend, due to a series of coincidences and near-miss encounters that continually kept dinosaurs and humans apart. Dodge would often try to find ways for Pilchard to meet the grown-ups, but something would always cause Pilchard to leave before the presenters could see him. Sometimes, all it would take for the grown-ups to see Pilchard would be to turn their heads, yet they usually wouldn't do so until Pilchard had already gone. Various Kids could see Pilchard, thus being his playmates or "Backdoor Pals," but the major presenters never believed his existence until Meet Pilchard in 2020. Pilchard became real to the entire cast for a few reasons. One was because the writers were running out of new ways to have Pilchard just barely miss meeting them. Another factor was increased concerns that the adults' refusal to believe Dodge's claims of his friend's existence would discourage children from sharing important things with their parents. It takes two people to perform Pilchard. Ronnie Le Drew, the person who performs the front also performs the voice. The back-end of Pilchard is Andy Heath. In the early years of Pilchard's appearances, his entrances were scored by happy music, which could be heard by those who could see him. Pilchard's family While Pilchard is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, his other family is different dinosaur species. * Mummy Dino (Triceatops) * Daddy Dino (Diplodocus) * Baby Boogie (Ornithosaurus) * T.J. (Ornithosaurus) * Granny Dino (Pterodactylus) * Missy the Dinosaur (Stegosaurus) * Uncle Dino (Ceratosaurus) Trivia * According to Ronnie Le Drew and Warrick Brownlow-Pike (Pilchard and Dodge's respective performers), Pilchard hates the song "It's a Small World" and the movie "The Wizard of Oz". * Pilchard likes upbeat music. * Starting with Pilchard: The Case, Pui, Cerrie, and Sid all decided to believe that he was real despite the lack of evidence, while Alex initially believed that he was real, claiming to have encountered various dinosaurs on TV. Near Misses Before his existence was revealed to the grown-ups in the CBeebies House, there were many instances when the grown-ups almost saw Pilchard, only to just barely miss him. Some even heard him talk, but thought they were imagining things. Here are some of the many close encounters between Pilchard and others. * Sounds - During a Camping Trip, Dodge wants to introduce the grown-ups to Pilchard. Dodge calls out to his friend, but everyone hides. Pilchard doesn't see anyone, all the grown-ups fall asleep instead of seeing him. * Alphabet Telethon - Andy helps Dodge find replacement items for his game of "The Sorting Song" when it turns out Pilchard's afraid of the letters Q and X. Both times they return to the CBeebies House, Pilchard is nowhere to be found. * Kids Sing UK - Dodge takes a picture of Pilchard, but when he shows the picture to the grown-ups, they think that they're looking at a purple rug and a purple rope. * The People of London - Pilchard tells Dodge that he is 224 years old in Dinosaur years today. Dodge decides to throw a surprise birthday party for his friend, so he leaves to get party hats, balloons, a birthday cake and two candles. He invites Ben, Cat, Andy, and Rebecca. But when they get there, Pilchard isn't around. * Sing Around the Seasons - Pilchard finds Ryan's missing umbrella. Dodge runs to return them to Ryan, explaining who found them. Just as Ryan puts on his rain clothes, Pilchard disappears around the corner. Again, Dodge fails to prove the existence of his elusive friend. * Journey to Secret Places - Pilchard makes a surprise visit to the CBeebies House, but the noises he causes ruin the effect of his surprise. He's disappointed that he's never able to surprise anyone, especially his best friend. Dodge thinks he could surprise the grown-ups by being revealed to be real. As Dodge heads out, Pilchard thinks of a way he can surprise Dodge. Ryan, Rebecca, Ben, and Cat are dragged over to the "Comfy Corner," but find there's no sign of a big purple Dinosaur. After the exit, Pilchard reappears and truly surprises Dodge. * Who are your Heroes? - Dodge and Pilchard pretend that the latter is a big terrible tiger on the loose, and Dodge gathers Katy so that she may finally see his elusive purple pal. When Katy really comes along, she continues to think that Pilchard the Dinosaur is a figment of Dodge's imagination. * Imagine That! - Dodge sees Pilchard singing songs for his fans on the beach, and he runs off to get people to witness this. He points towards the waves, where Cat hears singing. Pilchard goes to the school to play with the other kids. * ABC Rock Out - Dodge plays a game of Follow My Leader with Katy, Ryan, Cat, and Rebecca. Dodge wants them to wait for Pilchard the Big Pink Tyrannosaurus Rex to arrive, but they refuse to wait, thinking that otherwise, they'll never play. After they start playing, Pilchard shows up and takes the last place in line. Cat is the leader, and tells everyone to close their eyes, which causes them to miss Pilchard. Pilchard gets tired and leaves before the game is over. * Waking Ben Up! - Dodge brings Pilchard the Dinosaur to wake a tired Ben by singing "Pilchard Loves You". After a few tries, Ben trudges through some repairs while half asleep and finishes his work. As Pilchard leaves, Dodge asks Ben if he's going to thank him, but Ben says there's no such thing as a Purple Dinosaur. * Telephones and Communication - Pilchard the Dinosaur walks down the Cbeebies House, counting the number of people who don't see him -- including Andy, Cat, Oucha (who gets her head stuck inside a bag of cookies), Rebecca, Ben, Katy, and Ryan (who holds a stack of boxes that block his vision). * Sleepytime in the CBeebies House - Pilchard sleeps over at the CBeebies House, but ends up sleepwalking, with a white sheet over him. Susan and Bob see him and wonder what he is. The next morning, Big Bird tells them about how Snuffy slept over and was sleepwalking, and they figure it was Snuffy until they incorrectly mention him being white. Category:Characters Category:Dinosaurs